Using the Wrong Tool with Success

beersngars · Apr 25, 2008

Well I got some time this week to try out my new Woods GB65 box-blade. I bought it with the idea of expanding it's role from traditional box-blade work to sod buster/plow work for a few small food plots. Let me explain the plan. I have about a 4-5 acre overgrown field that I used a brush hog to clear last fall. It has never had any work done to it as long as I have owned the property (about 15 years) and it was overgrown with briars and scrap trees, some as tall as 20 feet. Well I got that beat to the ground and planed to put in 3 different food crops each being about 50 feet wide and about 100 yards long. There will be strips of virgin sod left between the crop rows and around the perimeter of the field that I will continue to brush hog. Oh yea, the wife wants pumpkins and stuff as well. My thought is I will be able to use the strips to access the food plots and have the advantage of seeing which crop does the best in my soil and still have room to ride the 4 wheelers.

Back to the box-blade. I spent about 3 hours making one of the 50 foot by 100 yard long strips look pretty darn good. At first, I thought it would never work and started to figure out a plan"B"

. I was pulling out so much root, both big and small it would load up the scarifers and let the box float over the ground. I just kept after it and would dump the junk at the ends of the rows and after a large enough pile built up, use the FEL to get rid if it. Having never used a box-blade before (and misplacing the instructions

) all I could do is try and remember what I had learned here on TBN as far as proper set up. After a few hours of work, most of the roots had been cleaned out and the sod busted up, it looks pretty good. I still need to get a better hang of how to smooth the soil out and clean up the area, but that will come.

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

bigballer · Apr 28, 2008

i tried using my gb65 in the same manner as you - i found it took a long time to get all the sod cleared out with just dirt left over. i also had big piles at the end of the rows, i had angled the box as high in the rear as i could and used it as a ripper with the tines dropped down. it did ok i probably didn't have enough patience so i called it a day and had someone come out with a tiller to make it garden ready, that worked much better..

john_bud · Apr 28, 2008

beersngars said:
Back to the box-blade. I spent about 3 hours making one of the 50 foot by 100 yard long strips look pretty darn good. At first, I thought it would never work and started to figure out a plan"B" . I was pulling out so much root, both big and small it would load up the scarifers and let the box float over the ground. I just kept after it and would dump the junk at the ends of the rows and after a large enough pile built up, use the FEL to get rid if it. Having never used a box-blade before (and misplacing the instructions ) all I could do is try and remember what I had learned here on TBN as far as proper set up. After a few hours of work, most of the roots had been cleaned out and the sod busted up, it looks pretty good. I still need to get a better hang of how to smooth the soil out and clean up the area, but that will come.

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Actually, it sounds like you are well on your way. As you found out, nothing works work a hoot until you get the grass, weeds, trees, roots and other stuff out of the way. Then it works pretty good.

Now, you just need to practice and don't be afraid to jump off and diddle with the top link every other pass. Make adjustments in 1" increments at first to see what the change does. Then you can find tune once you learn what's going on. Then practice practice practice!

jb

browns40 · Apr 29, 2008

Well it is working, so you can't be too far off!

Rule of thumb with the box is the shorter your toplink, the more aggressively it will dig, with scarifiers or the rear blade...

That set-up digs down/fills the box.

The longer the toplink, the better it smooths the surface... on soft substrate, you still wil need to keep an eye on the draft to keep the box from sinking in.

Getting the debris out of the scarifiers can be a pain, but if you aren't pulling a lot of wood (can I say that on TBN?

), your can lower the scarifiers gently in as you back up over your piles, which will clean them for the most part... not an entirely safe idea if there are a bunch of sticks in with your debris.